In the past, there have been a number of containers that have been disclosed which store and conveniently dispense food. Generally, such containers provide a convenience meal to consumers who are limited in time or due to other situations to eat solid or semi-solid food in an unconventional manner.
Of course, fluids (some of which are relatively nutritious) are readily available to consumers simply because of the packaging of such items in various types of disposable aluminum or plastic containers. In the case of fluids, the containers may be readily used in a single-handed operation. Some containers configured with solid or semi-solid foods aim to provide single-handed operation whenever possible, but often do not provide the convenience sought by consumers. Often it is desirable to serve more than one type of food (in other words a balanced meal) which requires some element of mixing of the food types prior to their consumption.
By way of example, Westerhof et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,063,229 (hereinafter Westerhof) discloses a single handed container for mixing foods. According to the Westerhof disclosure, the container has an outer cup and an inner cup which are fitted with a lid that seals the inner cup in the outer cup with a space between the two cups. The space between the outer cup and the inner cup contains a fluid such as milk. The inner cup holds a cereal. The inner cup has a plurality of walls to permit flow of the cereal from the inner cup. Additionally, the lid has an opening in communication with the inner and outer cup, and the opening is designed so that the cups may be tilted and a consumer may then receive the cereal and milk. Of course, limited mixing action occurs so that in effect the consumer simply receives dry cereal with a little bit of milk. In this situation, although the operation is single-handed, the meal experience differs significantly from consuming cereal and milk from a bowl with a spoon.
Other U.S. patent disclosures mentioned by Westerhof do not appear to provide any different kind of eating experience and depend on various mechanisms, which are dissimilar to how people generally consume their food.
Accordingly, it would appear that to date, no disclosure has provided a practical solution to the issue of how to provide a convenience container that may be used in a single-handed fashion and also be similar to the way a consumer would generally eat a meal comprising one or more solid or semi-solid components and fluids. Furthermore, devices that have been disclosed appear to be fairly complex and consequently may be expensive to implement.